Touring Advice - Maggie Valley / Gatlinburg

[Bike-O-Din]

Looking to tap the many resources of the group regarding an upcoming trip. Starting March 9th, the wife and I will be spending about a week in Maggie Valley and the following week in Gatlinburg. We are trailering the Spyder so we can do some "Cloverleaf Tours" on the RT, as well as some geocaching and general touring that would be easier with the SUV.

I have reached out to Lamont and am hoping to stop by his "estate" for a howdy-do and an alignment for the RT.

Any thoughts on "must see" items or special routes that you may have traveled? If you have some favorite routes that can be used on a GPS, I would be interested as I can do the conversion to make them work on the Garmin 660.

We are not so interested in the general tourist traps (unless they are really special) but would rather experience some of the out of the ordinary things that are unique to the area. Also, recommendations of local places to eat where you would take people who were visiting you from out of town - does not have to be fancy, just good eats!

Thanks in advance for the input.

Mr. Bill

 

[summerdawn]

That area is FULL of great riding. "Must rides" for us are the Cherohala Skyway, Tail of the Dragon, the River Road starting around Townsend and, of course, ride from Maggie Valley to Ashville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is also a great day ride through the Pisgah Forest on route 215. It is gorgeous. You will love the area.

 

[bruiser]

On the ride from Maggie Valley to Lamonts abode, take Hwy. 209 also known as The Rattler. Great ride and more fun than the Dragon.

 

[Pennyrick]

:agree:

On the ride from Maggie Valley to Lamonts abode, take Hwy. 209 also known as The Rattler. Great ride and more fun than the Dragon.

 

[MouthPiece]

I don't remember the road number from Franklin, N.C., to Brevard, N.C., but there are several waterfalls that are breath taking. Transylvania County in N.C., has the most waterfalls of any county in the U.S., if you are into waterfalls. I am. There is a book out that will give you all the waterfalls in N.C., I can't remember the name, but just google waterfalls in N.C.

Chris

 

[viperryder]

Rattler

Looking to tap the many resources of the group regarding an upcoming trip. Starting March 9th, the wife and I will be spending about a week in Maggie Valley and the following week in Gatlinburg. We are trailering the Spyder so we can do some "Cloverleaf Tours" on the RT, as well as some geocaching and general touring that would be easier with the SUV.

I have reached out to Lamont and am hoping to stop by his "estate" for a howdy-do and an alignment for the RT.

Any thoughts on "must see" items or special routes that you may have traveled? If you have some favorite routes that can be used on a GPS, I would be interested as I can do the conversion to make them work on the Garmin 660.

We are not so interested in the general tourist traps (unless they are really special) but would rather experience some of the out of the ordinary things that are unique to the area. Also, recommendations of local places to eat where you would take people who were visiting you from out of town - does not have to be fancy, just good eats!

Thanks in advance for the input.

Mr. Bill

You have to go on the rattler. Wife and I did it at appreciation event. One heck of a ride. Be sure you have full tank of gas as it cost us over $4.00 per gallon and we had a full tank to start. Good luck.

 

[fispyder]

I live in upstate SC. There are so many routes that you can take from Maggie valley that I couldn't list them all. One that you might like is take 276out of Maggie Valley to Brevard take 64 to Rosman than 215 and loop back around to Maggie Valley. Plenty of curves on this route except for short stretch on 64. If it was me I would buy a state map and plan my routes. State maps show more detail. Dress warm because it is still cold weather.

 

[MarkLawson]

Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley is a 'must see' place. It is unique in numerous ways, including all bikes are in running condition, but almost none are restored in the traditional sense. They pretty much look how they looked when Dale acquired them. If you've seen 'What's In The Barn' (Velocity TV, I think), this is the same Dale and museum in that show. It's normal to see Dale start and ride the old bikes, both in the museum and in the parking lot.

 

[SPYD3R]

WHEELS THROUGH TIME

an ABSOLUTE MUST is a stop at WHEELS THROUGH TIME MUSEUM.... http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/
if you are a true motorcyclist, this is a MUST SEE..... don't miss it... :thumbup:

 

[bruiser]

Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley is a 'must see' place. It is unique in numerous ways, including all bikes are in running condition, but almost none are restored in the traditional sense. They pretty much look how they looked when Dale acquired them. If you've seen 'What's In The Barn' (Velocity TV, I think), this is the same Dale and museum in that show. It's normal to see Dale start and ride the old bikes, both in the museum and in the parking lot.

Forgot about WTT. Thanks Mark. No trip to Maggie Valley would be complete without a tour there. Dale and his staff have always been good to SL.

 

[Bumble Bee T]

maggie valley

be sure to go to the peddler in gatlingburg. the best rib eye you will ever get. then go to the old mill in pigeon forge. i will eat at both next week. going up for our 45th anniversary on valentines day. have a ball in the mountains.

 

[spyderbirds]

Some of our most memorable rydes have been setting our lodging point as "home" then just taking off with no route and ryde the roads and turns that look interesting, then after lunch having the GPS take us "home" with "highways" turned off! Really have found some out of the way roads and scenery that way.

 

[Highwayman2013]

Check out the website tailofthedragon.com for information of the area.

 

[BamaSpyder]

I don't remember the road number from Franklin, N.C., to Brevard, N.C., but there are several waterfalls that are breath taking. Transylvania County in N.C., has the most waterfalls of any county in the U.S., if you are into waterfalls. I am. There is a book out that will give you all the waterfalls in N.C., I can't remember the name, but just google waterfalls in N.C.

Chris

I think this is Hwy 28.

 

[Bike-O-Din]

From simpler times - a reminder

Some of our most memorable rydes have been setting our lodging point as "home" then just taking off with no route and ryde the roads and turns that look interesting, then after lunch having the GPS take us "home" with "highways" turned off! Really have found some out of the way roads and scenery that way.

This was a great reminder of simpler times and how important it is to K.I.S.S. You are right - some of the best rides I have ever done used this method.:thumbup:

In the mid 90's when I got back into motorcycling, I would tell the wife I was just going out to ride around until I got lost. I would leave the driveway in a general direction and just take whatever road looked interesting.

As I began to get tired, I would get out the old paper maps, (GPS? I do not know if they existed then, but even if they did, I could not afford one!) I would try to discover where I was, and then plot a route home. Sometimes I would even have to stop a local store/service area/restaurant and ask someone to show me where I was on the map. I remember one instance standing by the bike in a parking lot looking over the map when someone pulled up and asked me for directions to a specific store in the area. I said: "I would love to point you in the right direction, but...; Not only can I not help you, I do not even know where I am!" "I am looking at this map trying to find out where this place is and how to get home from here." Needless to say, the person asking me directions looked at me a bit funny and simply drove off.

Now, I spend lots of time (that would be better spent ryding) researching roads, points-of-interest, and the like, followed by putting all of it into the itineraries on the GPS, and sometimes even printing elaborate maps - all "because-I-can."

I appreciate the advice. For this trip, I think I will leave some days to go old school: plan some end destinations, and just drive until I get lost. The GPS can bring me "home." ray:

 

[Bike-O-Din]

The wife (and I) thank you

be sure to go to the peddler in gatlingburg. the best rib eye you will ever get. then go to the old mill in pigeon forge. i will eat at both next week. going up for our 45th anniversary on valentines day. have a ball in the mountains.

First: congrats on the milestone. :bowdown: We are at year 43 and counting.

My wife will be especially grateful for this recommendation - she is a great steak lover!!

 

[Bike-O-Din]

I wonder if they will be thawed in March?

I don't remember the road number from Franklin, N.C., to Brevard, N.C., but there are several waterfalls that are breath taking. Transylvania County in N.C., has the most waterfalls of any county in the U.S., if you are into waterfalls. I am. There is a book out that will give you all the waterfalls in N.C., I can't remember the name, but just google waterfalls in N.C.

Chris

Chris,

Good stuff. Yes, we like the waterfall thing as well. When we went through a part of Canada this year, we stayed in Hamilton, Ontario. There are many, many waterfalls there to, and I actually like the variety and the surrounding unspoiled scenery better than Niagara which we stopped to see as well. I did google waterfalls in NC. WOW, there is a bunch of info out there. There is even an interactive map with pictures, maps, and other information - ya gotta love the Internet!

Yep, it looks like route 54 and 28 are the numbers. Hope the weather warms up a bit. Going this early in March, we are hoping the falls will have thawed by the time we get there!

Bill